Swing bridges on the L&L

[larryjc]

Did a quick search and couldn't find an answer to this one - so how on earth would you do the L&L single handed?  Apart from some locks and bridges where it is physically impossible to move the gates on your own (we had to push one bridge with the boat to unjam it), all the swing bridges have the operating arm on the non towpath side.  For a few it might just be possible to moor on the wrong side to access the handle but for most this just isn't on.  I suppose if you were going in the direction they open in you could unlock it then push it with the boat although there would be no way to close it again.  We have just done the first twenty miles up from Leeds and have many more to do - luckily there are two of us.  I'm sure someone will have an obvious answer but for the life of me I can't work it out.

Edited April 10, 2017 by larryjc

[Neil2]

There are various techniques but probably the best one is to wait for another boat with crew.

Unfortunately that's getting increasingly harder on the L/L as traffic decreases.

Hauling the boat through with a line, from the non towpath side, is the most common way, but the motorised bridges really do need two persons especially that one at Apperley Bridge where motorists have no patience at all.   A lot of the single handers I've met say they try and press gang a willing passer by to help.  

[Robbo]

39 minutes ago, larryjc said:

Did a quick search and couldn't find an answer to this one - so how on earth would you do the L&L single handed?  Apart from some locks and bridges where it is physically impossible to move the gates on your own (we had to push one bridge with the boat to unjam it), all the swing bridges have the operating arm on the non towpath side.  For a few it might just be possible to moor on the wrong side to access the handle but for most this just isn't on.  I suppose if you were going in the direction they open in you could unlock it then push it with the boat although there would be no way to close it again.  We have just done the first twenty miles up from Leeds and have many more to do - luckily there are two of us.  I'm sure someone will have an obvious answer but for the life of me I can't work it out.

Basically you use ropes, and long ones.   Most manual bridges have chains to pull them back from the towpath.  If this is the case it's the easiest Bridge as you get off the boat with bow rope in hand (don't moor up) although I tie the rope to the Bridge.   Open the Bridge and then pull the bow to the Bridge, get on boat and moor up on other side.  Pull chain for the Bridge to close.  If there is no chain or a electric Bridge.  You use ropes to pull the boat all the way through and then back towards the tow path once you've closed the Bridge.   Wind is your enemy, so on windy days I stay put.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Robbo

[Robbo]

39 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

There are various techniques but probably the best one is to wait for another boat with crew.

Unfortunately that's getting increasingly harder on the L/L as traffic decreases.

Hauling the boat through with a line, from the non towpath side, is the most common way, but the motorised bridges really do need two persons especially that one at Apperley Bridge where motorists have no patience at all.   A lot of the single handers I've met say they try and press gang a willing passer by to help.  

I have no issues doing Apperley Bridge single handed, it's easier when coming from Skipton as the bridge opens in the right direction and you can just on the boat and tie up on the nearest lamppost on the Bridge controls side.   Only issue I have here is that the controls don't work  when you've close the gates and you need to call them out.    A few of the new motorised ones now have the controls on the towpath side (Shipley and Around Bingley to mention a few).

[magictime]

48 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Unfortunately that's getting increasingly harder on the L/L as traffic decreases.

Is traffic decreasing on the L/L then? The only stats I've seen are the lockage figures for the past few years, which have been pretty steady.

[Neil2]

23 minutes ago, magictime said:

Is traffic decreasing on the L/L then? The only stats I've seen are the lockage figures for the past few years, which have been pretty steady.

I'm thinking of the canal 10-15 years ago, I can't believe the moving traffic these days is anywhere near what it was then.  

[Mac of Cygnet]

Like several others here, I've done the L&L singlehanded, mostly using the techniques described.  You'll find that towpath strollers are usually delighted to get to operate a motorised bridge, once you show them what to do.  The only exception I had was a young Asian lad who looked terrified and fled with his girlfriend up the towpath.

[howardang]

3 hours ago, larryjc said:

Did a quick search and couldn't find an answer to this one - so how on earth would you do the L&L single handed?  Apart from some locks and bridges where it is physically impossible to move the gates on your own (we had to push one bridge with the boat to unjam it), all the swing bridges have the operating arm on the non towpath side.  For a few it might just be possible to moor on the wrong side to access the handle but for most this just isn't on.  I suppose if you were going in the direction they open in you could unlock it then push it with the boat although there would be no way to close it again.  We have just done the first twenty miles up from Leeds and have many more to do - luckily there are two of us.  I'm sure someone will have an obvious answer but for the life of me I can't work it out.

This video may be useful.

 

Howard

[AllanC]

I've watched this vid a few times, and wondered why he pulls the boat over to the towpath side. Why not just walk over the bridge and get on the boat where it is?

[Robbo]

12 minutes ago, AllanC said:

I've watched this vid a few times, and wondered why he pulls the boat over to the towpath side. Why not just walk over the bridge and get on the boat where it is?

It's useful to know the full sequence as you can't always get on the boat on the other side.

[Señor Chris]

I single-handed most of the L&L last year. I ended up using a rope to pull the bridges open and closed from the towpath side. It's a bit more of a faff to set up than hauling the boat through but a lot more controllable - bridges tend not to drift off in the wind!

[Neil2]

1 hour ago, AllanC said:

I've watched this vid a few times, and wondered why he pulls the boat over to the towpath side. Why not just walk over the bridge and get on the boat where it is?

Well he presumably had to retrieve his camera from the towpath but I don't understand why for the purposes of the vid he didn't just hop on and motor away. IIRC there is enough of a landing on the off side.

That bridge used to be notoriously unreliable, we got it stuck half open on an August Bank Holiday Monday I hope they've sorted it now. 

[larryjc]

Interesting video which only makes me glad that I'm not having to do it.  However, it does beg the question why the canal was built this way in the first place?  Some of the motorised bridges do now have the control box on the towpath side but none of the push ones operate from that side.  From memory the K&A has them them 'correct' way round so why not here??

[Jen-in-Wellies]

2 minutes ago, larryjc said:

Interesting video which only makes me glad that I'm not having to do it.  However, it does beg the question why the canal was built this way in the first place?  Some of the motorised bridges do now have the control box on the towpath side but none of the push ones operate from that side.  From memory the K&A has them them 'correct' way round so why not here??

It is in the name. Tow path. When towing with a horse you want the swing bridge mechanism on the off side so there is no obstruction to the tow rope. The manual bridges are almost always like this as a leftover from horse days.

Jen

[larryjc]

Didn't seemto be an issue on the K&A and anyway the bridge would have to be open for the horse to pass so the tow path would be clear.

 

[AllanC]

Well yes, except for a large bridge section 30' long and 10' wide blocking the towpath. The guy appeared to motor away from the bank, so maybe he had a friend operating the camera, and picked him up a few yards on.

[Robbo]

2 hours ago, larryjc said:

Interesting video which only makes me glad that I'm not having to do it.  However, it does beg the question why the canal was built this way in the first place?  Some of the motorised bridges do now have the control box on the towpath side but none of the push ones operate from that side.  From memory the K&A has them them 'correct' way round so why not here??

The new ones on the L&L do have the controls on the towpath side.  However it does seem daft that the old motorised ones weren't designed this way.

[Peter-Bullfinch]

In the past I've used a long chain with some rope at either end. Tie the rope to the bridge.  Push the bridge open with the boat pole. The chain lies on the canal bed but is secured at either end to the bridge plus often a post or bit of fence on the tow path side. Take the boat through and tie up then pull the bridge back with your rope and chain. This has worked for me on virtually all of the Leeds and Liverpool ones which aren't motorised. I've used dog walkers too!

[RAP]

8 hours ago, AllanC said:

I've watched this vid a few times, and wondered why he pulls the boat over to the towpath side. Why not just walk over the bridge and get on the boat where it is?

The objective of the video was to demonstrate how a single handed boater could operate the bridge with minimal physical activity. You will note that there is no running or jumping around the structure or any agile manoeuvres. It was a demonstration for mixed age and physical ability. Upon closing the bridge the operator untied the boat from the bridge and retrieved it by pulling from the towpath rather than take a precarious shortcut from the offside. The structure on that side coupled with the vegetation is not particularly inviting.

The video was submitted to a planning inquiry to help stop the 440 houses that are now to be built on the adjacent green fields. The bridge will be replaced with a fully automatic two lane swing bridge twice the size of the current bridge, it being the primary access road to and from the new housing estate. The new bridge will have the usual 'brand new teething troubles' and in time will become as reliable as the others in CRT or council ownership.

CRT has moved the controls to the towpath side and have done so to most of the electrically operated swing bridges in their ownership. The council owned swing bridges retain their offside controls.